Wow, I hadn't seen that document before. I had no idea that ordering up a new hatch from the factory (back when it was still possible) was such a project!
Some of these replacement hatches you guys are making are marvels of craftsmanship that I despair of ever matching.
My boat came to me without an actual hatch. It had... what I suppose one could call a "plug" or more accurately some wood scraps pulled over the hole. There were a couple of fragments of the original hatch and some pieces of teak in the sail locker. Saved as a pattern, i suppose. I spent one weekend attempting to accurately cut the end pieces. Ruined a bunch of expensive wood. Threw it all away. I suppose I eventually could have accomplished it, but it would have taken far more time than I could see spending on it at this stage.
The next weekend, I built a simple dog-house style hatch with mahogany sides and a plywood top. Rabbeted all the joints. Epoxied fiberglass tape inside and out over all the joints. Then epoxied over the whole thing. Couple of coats of paint. Bam, it's done. Er, I mean it's a
prototype that I'll replace some day with something more elegant. But you can stand on it and it keeps the rain out. So far I haven't built the matching sea-hood that I was
going to do the next weekend.
So far, nobody has taken me aside to comment on the ugly hatch. Keeping the
prototype explanation in my back pocket.
(only handy pic that seems to show it.)
